


Road to Lebanon

by orphan_account



Category: Mean Girls (2004), Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Gen, Use of the D-slur, basically the entirety of high school for janis, don't worry about them, if I ever finish this, janis' origin story, mlm/wlw solidarity, nothing too graphic but i'll give somewarnings here and there, some angst ofc, tf is a redemption arc, the original characters are just some parents i made, you either make a whole entire u-turn or youre staying in the pit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25021360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Janis was a mean girl. She knew it. Her teachers knew it. Her parents knew. Hell, the entire school knew, and most students avoided her as much as they could. And yet, she was never alone. Because being seen with Janis Sarkisian, Regina George, and Karen Smith meant being popular. Being middle school royalty. So, they had a steady group of admirers. Boys who wanted to be their boyfriends. Girls who wanted to be their friends. The trio dismissed them, mostly. Basking in their admiration and fear and never giving anything in return.
Relationships: Damian Hubbard & Janis Sarkisian
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. The Plan

Janis was a mean girl. She knew it. Her teachers knew it. Her parents knew. Hell, the entire school knew, and most students avoided her as much as they could. And yet, she was never alone. Because being seen with Janis Sarkisian, Regina George, and Karen Smith meant being popular. Being middle school royalty. So, they had a steady group of admirers. Boys who wanted to be their boyfriends. Girls who wanted to be their friends. The trio dismissed them, mostly. Basking in their admiration and fear and never giving anything in return. 

It was somewhere near the end of March, maybe even early June, when Regina decided to give back to the people that had loved her so throughout middle school. “A pool  party !” she’d exclaimed loudly to the other two girls at her lunch table. “I’ll invite every girl in the whole school. My backyard’s big enough anyways.” Janis frowned a little, it was  very unlike Regina to even invite the girls from their class, let alone the entire school. 

“You do realize that means you’ll have to invite people like Dawn Schweizer, right?” 

“Yeah, but next year it’ll mean all these losers think I like them. And just imagine their faces when they realize they still can’t sit with us.” Regina explained, looking very happy with herself. Janis started sharing her joy when she realized just how ingenious the plan really was. Shooting down their groupies would definitely be fun. Especially their leader, Gretchen, would be crushed. Janis agreed and started helping with the plan. Karen just nodded along absentmindedly.

Regina had decided they needed to have a sleepover that weekend so they could continue planning for the party. Janis had immediately agreed. Her parents were  going to be mad that she’d said yes before asking them but that didn’t matter. Janis took every chance she could get to be around Regina. Being around Regina George meant being better than everyone and everything except Regina George herself. It meant power.

But being around Regina, no last name given, meant having fun. Watching the best movies and eating the best popcorn and hearing the best jokes and the prettiest laugh and being allowed to mostly be yourself. Because friends were off-limits. That was the rule. No friends in the Burn Book. No making fun of friends. It was one of the many many rules that reigned even over Regina George. So, being around Regina was fun. Plain and simple. And yet so, so complicated.

She’d spent her entire Friday afternoon preparing for the slumber party. Packing everything she needed, spending hours doing her makeup and picking out the outfit that was the exact right combination of cute and comfy, which was the dress code for all Regina’s slumber parties. Her eventual outfit, pink sweatpants with a cute white tank top, was born from a battlefield on her floor, littered with clothes she’d dismissed. She ended up packing a matching pink zip-up hoodie in case she got cold. That was mostly for her mom’s sake, though, Regina’s mom always cranked the thermostat so she could wear nothing but a silk bathrobe around the house without freezing to death. 

After much deliberation, Janis decided to pack her bikini, too. She'd basically begged her parents to buy her a new one for Regina’s party, but she still needed Regina’s approval on it. Both she and Karen were supposed to ask Regina’s opinion on every piece of clothing they bought, to make sure it was actually cute. Regina would tell them if it fit their style or not. Sometimes she’d find flaws that weren’t even there, but neither girl ever called her out on it. Karen had figured out a long time ago that it was easiest to just follow orders, and when your superior officer was the Head Bitch in Charge of the entire middle school, that meant it even gave you status to be a “dumb blonde”. And Janis... well, Janis was willing to do just about anything for Regina. 

She’d dyed her hair blonde, no matter how her mother had begged her not to. She'd written  choreo for the Christmas show that her father never approved of. She’d started buying clothes she didn’t like all that much and she’d stopped drawing in favor of doing things for Regina. Homework, shopping, digging up secrets, it didn’t matter what it was or if Janis could even do it. If Regina asked, she would learn. 

She was greeted at the door by Mrs. George, who welcomed her with a slightly painful hug and an assurance to her mom that Janis would be returned home the next day. Janis navigated the mansion with ease, making her way to Regina’s room after stopping by the kitchen to get two glasses of coke. Karen had called Regina earlier that her parents were making her come with them to a family reunion, so she didn’t have to bother getting a third glass and trying, and potentially failing, to carry that too. Some trashy pop song was already audible down the hall from Regina’s room, where she’d no doubt been blasting One Direction for at least three hours now. She usually did that as soon as she got home. 

Janis knocked on the door with her foot and waited for Regina to open. It took her a good thirty seconds but eventually she answered. Her hair was up in a flawless ponytail. The pink hair tie matched her shirt exactly. She was wearing black gym shorts with her initials on them in rhinestones. Knowing Regina, they might even be real. Her room was painted a hot pink, including the ceiling, and everything from the furniture to her curtains followed the same color trend. Splashed of white and gray could be found here and there, but only if you were actually looking. The Burn Book was proudly displayed on the dresser opposite her bed. The curtains to her balcony were closed, so were the doors. Her room was hot, like always. Regina always said that sweating was good for detoxing, and that open balcony doors could let bugs in, and she didn’t want to wake up with spiders in her bed.

They ended up watching Titanic again. Regina fawned over Leo the entire time and Janis pretended to share her feelings. She'd never understood the appeal behind Leo. Sure, he was objectively kind of cute, but she didn’t care much for him. Then again, she hadn’t cared much for her boyfriend, Shane, either. At least, she hadn’t cared until he broke up with her. Maybe that was just what feelings were like. A guy who’s objectively cute. Who you’d miss once he broke up with you. Honestly, she mostly missed Regina’s approval. Regina had liked it when Janis got a boyfriend, especially since he was the second cutest boy in the entire school. The first, AJ, was of course Regina’s boyfriend. That was just how it  worked. Regina got the hottest boy, Janis got the second, and Karen was never one for sticking with a boy.

Regina cried at the end. She always did. Janis just wordlessly handed her some tissues and pretended like she gave a shit about Jack dying for the fifteenth time. The movie always ended the same way, it was a mystery to Janis how it still made Regina sad. 

Mrs. George came by to bring them refills and a pizza not long after, and Regina said it was time to work on the party. 

“We definitely need flyers. At least a hundred. We can probably get someone to hang them up for us.” Regina said before sliding Janis a piece of paper and a pencil. “You’re  gonna design it.” she told her with a smile.

And Janis would do everything for that smile.


	2. The Execution

Regina’s mom had printed two hundred copies of the flyer Janis had designed, and by lunch on Monday, they covered most surfaces in the school. “All girls welcome” it read in huge letters, hand-drawn by Janis in her prettiest bubble font. The paper was pink, of course, with black letters, stating it was for Regina George’s 14th birthday. A pool party for all the girls in the school. As expected, nobody shut up about it for the entire week. Regina informed Janis and Karen on Wednesday that her mom had bought supplies already. Pizza, drinks, candy, everything a kid could want for her birthday. Of course, there would also be a huge cake. The kind that the other girls would ask their parents for for their birthdays. She'd already approved both girls’ bikinis but had kept her own a secret for the day of. The party would be that Saturday, a few days before her actual birthday, and would “change history” as Regina said. 

On Thursday Regina had said that she couldn’t wait for Saturday. That everything was going to be perfect. Janis and Karen shared her enthusiasm. Partly because they had to, and partly because Regina’s parties were always legendary. She had the best snacks and the prettiest yard and a heated pool and her mom wouldn’t interrupt at all. Mrs. George had even arranged that she and Regina’s little sister would be out of town on Saturday but would be back on time to call a cleaning crew. 

On Friday morning Janis was waiting for Regina and Karen behind the school, like always. They usually arrived together since Karen’s mom drove both of them to school, but today only Regina showed up. 

“Hi Regina,” Janis greeted her excitedly, “where’s Karen?” Regina hesitated for a second before grabbing Janis’ arm and dragging her to a slightly more secluded place, looking around to make sure they were alone. 

“I actually wanted to talk to you.” 

Janis tilted her head slightly to urge her to keep going. Regina sighed. “Janis, I can’t invite you to my birthday because I think you might be a lesbian. And I can’t have a lesbian at my pool party because there’s gonna be girls there in their bathing suits.” 

Janis’ mouth fell open. Her head hurt and she felt like she was going to be sick. 

“I mean, are you? Are you a lesbian?” 

She couldn’t see anymore and her nails were digging into her palms as her eyes started to water. Friends were off-limits. 

“What _are_ you?” 

Janis inhaled deeply and gave the only answer she could. 

“I am a space alien and I have four butts!” 

Giggles rose in the group that had gathered behind Regina. Janis knew she’d chosen wrong the second the words left her mouth. But her vision was blurred and her legs were shaking and all she could do was run out of the alley behind the school and into the girls’ bathroom. 

She'd thrown up. She remembered that much. And she’d cried. A lot. And someone had written something on her locker that made the principal call her parents. And her dad had picked her up and he hadn’t said anything the entire ride home. 

“Am I in trouble?” Janis asked when her dad pulled into the driveway, still not having said a word. He kissed her on the forehead and wiped her cheeks. She probably looked and smelled like shit, she realized. “ _Non, mon petit_ _cœur_ _._ " He assured her, and she nodded. 

The next thing she remembered was the smell of her mom’s cooking and her dad opening the door to her room. 

“ _Minette_ , dinner is ready.” 

“’M not hungry.” she murmured into her pillow. When did she go to bed? 

“I can’t hear you, _Janice._ " 

“ _Je_ _n’ai_ _pas_ _faim_ _._ " She repeated, hoping that her dad would just leave already. She was still sick to her stomach and her head hurt. The dimples she could feel in the palms of her hands were starting to irritate and she felt like crying. A lot. Her dad left. 

She was woken up by her alarm on Saturday. She'd set it to wake her up at eight, so she’d have enough time to get ready for the party. Her bikini mocked her from where it hung on her closet door. It called out to her, whispering in her ear. _"I can’t invite you to my birthday party because I think you might be a lesbian.”_ over and over and over again until her mom burst in the door. 

She was holding a platter with food and drinks. Her brow was slightly furrowed but she clearly didn’t want to let Janis know just how worried she was. She set the platter down next to Janis’ bed and sat down carefully. She gently took Janis’ hand in hers as she reached for the plate. Eggs, bacon, toast, and other things Janis didn’t feel like eating. 

“ _Maman_ , I’m not hungry.” Janis complained, hoping her mom would just leave like her dad had so she could get back to crying and refreshing Regina’s Instagram page to see if she’d posted anything yet about the party. 

“I know, _Minette_ , but I’m not eating until you eat something. I know you’re upset but you still have to take care of yourself.” 

Janis took a bite of the eggs and almost threw up the second it hit her tongue. She chewed it, holding down her gags the entire time, and even swallowed. Her mom smiled at her and pet her hair. She then reached over for a hairbrush and motioned for Janis to sit on the chair in front of her. Janis slowly moved over, abandoning her plate but taking the OJ her mom had brought with her. Her mom started brushing her hair as gently as she could. When she was done with that, she moved on to ransacking Janis’ closet for anything that was comfortable and not pink, eventually bringing her some black sweatpants and a green sweatshirt that she’d really liked until Regina told her green looked bad on her. 

Janis finished her drink and got changed while her mother brought the dishes down. She looked at herself in the mirror. Old black sweatpants, a green sweater, neither of which were Regina-approved. Traces of mascara down her cheeks, chipped nail polish from where she’d bit her nails down to stubs. Regina would’ve kicked her out immediately if she’d seen her like this. Long, blonde hair. Now that was Regina-approved. She almost started crying again looking at the bright locks. Her parents both had dark hair. So did she, actually. But when Regina started dying her hair lighter, she said that Janis should too, so she wouldn’t be the only dark-haired one. They needed to match. She put her hair into a bun. Now she couldn’t see it anymore. Maybe she could just pretend it didn’t exist. 

When she came downstairs, her dad was in the living room watching the news. Her mom was putting away the dishes. Janis quietly made her way to the living room and sat down on the couch, staring at the screen without actually observing anything. It was the local news, implying that her mom had already watched the French news. Her dad was also not really paying attention, instead reading through emails on his phone. Janis decided to take her phone out, too, and was immediately faced with pictures of the pool party, all girls welcome.

All girls except Janis Sarkisian. 


	3. The Result

Janis’ mom had been yelling into the phone for at least fifteen minutes now. The door to the office was closed but the screaming could be heard where Janis sat on the stairs. She couldn’t understand much of the altercation, though, only her own name being thrown around a lot. The sounds were barely even registering anymore as Janis stared into nothing. She barely even realized that her dad had passed by her until she heard him knock on the door behind her. The yelling stopped for a bit as her mom opened the door. 

“ Jabira ,” her dad started, “maybe it’s enough.” she nodded before hanging up the phone, not even saying  goodbye to the person she’d been cussing out for the better part of twenty minutes. 

“Who were you talking to, mom?” Janis asked once she realized her parents had now fixed their attention on her. She didn’t get a response for a while, and assumed her parents were doing that thing where they have an entire conversation without saying anything. 

“It’s not important,  _ Minette _ .” her dad finally said, immediately followed by the announcement that he would go and fix them some lunch and him going downstairs, leaving Janis alone with her mother.

“You were talking to Mrs. George, weren’t you?” Janis asked, not even looking to see if her mother was nodding. It wasn’t a question anyways. Her mother sighed and joined her on the stairs.

“ _ Oui _ , she needed to know what Regina had done. I mean that girl had no right to-” 

“It’s fine. It’s just how Regina is.” Janis interrupted, silencing the voice in her head reminding her that friends were off-limits. The voice that sounded so much like Regina had the day the two of them had set up the rules to their little group. It was a duo back then, this was long before Karen caught Regina’s attention. 

“It’s not fine. And she should face consequences. Monday morning I’m taking you to school and I’ll talk to your principal and-” her mom kept talking but Janis stopped listening. The thought of having to go to school again on Monday. To see those words on her locker. All the stares she’d get. And to have to bear it on her own. No Regina to tell her all those people were below them anyways. No Karen to distract her or hug her. She was utterly alone. Everything suddenly hit her full force and she ran into the bathroom crying, throwing up as soon as she reached the toilet. 

Her mom followed her in, holding back her hair until she was done puking and wiping away her tears afterwards.  Jabira handed her a glass of water and put an arm around her shoulder while carefully making sure that Janis drank it all, staying by her side in silence until Janis’ dad called them down. 

“Coming, Yves!” her mother called back before gently leading Janis downstairs to where lunch was waiting for them.

Janis’ parents went out to a nearby flea market that afternoon, leaving her home alone. Her mom hadn’t rattled off every single rule before leaving, this time. Janis took that to mean that she could do whatever she wanted. To her, that just meant watching movies downstairs and eating every last snack they had in the house, which was exactly what she set out to do as soon as her parents left.

She wasn’t even halfway through Avengers when the doorbell rang. Janis grabbed her phone, 911 pre-dialed so she only needed to press “call”, in one hand and the keys in the other, slowly approaching the front door. Whoever it was wasn’t tall. They were compared to Janis but she wasn’t exactly an Amazon when it came to height. Janis cautiously continued her path. The shadow she could see through the door looked around and then tried to look through the window. 

“Who is it?” Janis called, hoping it would just be some neighborhood kid she hadn’t met yet.

“It’s Damien. From school. I-” he mumbled something under his breath. “I’m just here to make sure you’re okay.”

She recognized the name but that’s where the “knowing this person” portion of her mind gave up. 

“I’m fine.” she just answered back, hoping this kid would just leave already. 

The figure, Damien, seemed like he was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a car horn. 

“Look I  gotta go. Bye.” he yelled through the door before walking down the driveway, probably towards whoever just honked at him. Janis leapt forward and opened the door, halting Damien in his tracks. He turned around and Janis suddenly remembered who he was. Damien. Resident flamer of Northshore Middle. 

They locked eyes for a second before Janis closed the door again. She didn’t need help. Especially not his. If people saw them together, if they even knew he’d visited her, the rumors would only grow. No, she didn’t need Damien Hubbard worrying about her.

She went back to her movies and snacks, ignoring the parts of her brain that weren’t disgusted and offended by Damien Hubbard. The parts that liked that he’d checked on her. Nobody else had. Then again, Janis didn’t have many friends. That was the key to popularity, according to Regina. Make yourself a limited good. If people think being in your friend group gives you status, they’ll believe it enough to actually give you fame. People didn’t like her for who she was. They hated her because she was a Plastic. Because she had what they wanted. Which made them love her. 

Regina had explained this to her way back when, and over the years Janis had ignored every other manipulative thing she’d told her. Because Janis had started believing the nice shiny lie Regina told everyone, too. Everyone had. Well, maybe not everyone. Maybe not Damien Hubbard.


End file.
